In a contact start stop (CSS) type disk drive, the head/slider in contact with the surface of the magnetic disk during stop of the magnetic disk is floated, as the magnetic disk is rotated.
The magnetic transducers (which are also called heads) for reading and writing on the magnetic media are conventionally packaged in a block of material and the entire package is called a slider. The unit which contains the transducers however packaged will be referred to herein as a head/slider. The bottom surface of the head/slider (on the side of the magnetic disk) is provided with an air bearing surface (ABS). If the rotational speed of the magnetic disk reaches a predetermined rotational speed or more, the head/slider will be floated off the disk surface against the urging force of the actuator arm by the viscosity of air that flows between the air bearing surface and the disk surface.
A magnetic disk and a head/slider such as this perform reading/writing without touching each other, thereby preventing damage to the magnetic disk surface and the head/slider.
Incidentally, where an attempt is made to enhance the recording density of a magnetic disk, it is required to smooth the surface of the magnetic disk. However, if the magnetic disk surface becomes smooth, the head/slider will show a marked tendency to stick to the magnetic disk surface when the rotation of the magnetic disk is stopped. If the head/slider sticks to the disk surface, a large torque will be required to rotate the magnetic disk and sometimes it will damage the magnetic disk surface.
For this reason, magnetic disks are provided with a circumferential area where the head/slider lands, i.e. a landing zone, where the disk surface is roughened to prevent the sticking of the head/slider. A magnetic disk such as this is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application Nos. 4-38716, 5-307748, 6-111294, and 6-290452.
In Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 4-38716, concentric, circular grooves or a spiral groove is formed on a landing zone by injecting particles mixed with high-pressure gas onto a magnetic disk. In Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 5-307748, a great number of bumps having no acute angle are formed on the landing zone (head parking zone) on the surface of a magnetic disk. In Published unexamined Patent Application No. 6-111294, a great number of protruding patterns are formed on a landing zone (in which a magnetic head performs touching and sliding) by photolithography. In Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 6-290452, a great number of cavities are formed on a landing zone by irradiating laser light to a carbon substrate.
In the disk drive employing a magnetic disk provided with the landing zone, the head/slider is moved onto the landing zone during landing, thereby effectively preventing the sticking of the head/slider to the disk surface when the head/slider is landed or started or when the magnetic disk is rotated.
However, from the standpoint of long-term reliability in a disk drive, the texture on the landing zone has room for improvement in that the possibility of damage to the texture by friction during landing or damage to the magnetic disk surface and head by broken pieces is undeniable. Also, there is room for improvement in that the possibility of damage to the magnetic head by friction during landing is undeniable over a long time.